Apply for hous­ing benefits

🏠 Rent sub­sidy for peo­ple on low incomes

Peo­ple on low incomes can apply for hous­ing ben­e­fit (Wohn­geld). This a pay­ment that sub­sidis­es your rent.
You receive hous­ing ben­e­fit if you do not have suf­fi­cient income to pay for your hous­ing. The hous­ing ben­e­fit for ten­ants is called a rent sub­sidy, the hous­ing ben­e­fit for own­ers of own­er-occu­pied hous­ing is called an encum­brance subsidy.

Amount:
Depends on the indi­vid­ual case.
It is based on the size of the house­hold, income and rent or charges.

Dura­tion:
Gen­er­al­ly for 12 months.

In indi­vid­ual cas­es, this peri­od may be longer or short­er.
If you want to con­tin­ue receiv­ing hous­ing ben­e­fit after this peri­od, you must apply for it again.

Pre­req­ui­sites

🏠 You can get hous­ing ben­e­fit if:

  • Your total income is not too high.
  • Income is cal­cu­lat­ed in accor­dance with the Income Tax Act. The impor­tant thing is how much tax­able income you have. Some tax-free income is also included.
  • You pay your rent your­self. If some­one else (e.g. an office) pays your rent, you will not receive hous­ing benefit.

❌ Who does not receive hous­ing ben­e­fit?
Peo­ple who already receive oth­er state aid, for exam­ple, do not receive hous­ing benefit:

  • Cit­i­zen’s allowance — Bürg­ergeld (for­mer­ly unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fit II or social benefit)
  • Tran­si­tion­al allowance or injury ben­e­fit in the same amount as cit­i­zen’s allowance
  • Rent sub­si­dies for trainees or students
  • Basic income sup­port in old age or in the event of reduced earn­ing capacity
  • Assis­tance with liv­ing expenses
  • Help in care homes if food and accom­mo­da­tion are paid for there
  • Ben­e­fits under the Asy­lum Seek­ers Ben­e­fits Act
  • Child and youth wel­fare, if only such per­sons live in the household.

📝 Online appli­ca­tion — apply for hous­ing benefits

↗ Apply for hous­ing ben­e­fits (rent sub­sidy) with help to fill in the form (online appli­ca­tion)
Online appli­ca­tion, the form does not have to be sent by post.

↗ Appli­ca­tion for hous­ing ben­e­fits (rent sub­sidy) with com­ple­tion aid (print form)
The form must be signed and sent by post.

Required doc­u­ments

  • Proof of the num­ber of house­hold members.
  • Proof of rent (↗ rent cer­tifi­cate) or encum­brance (loan agreement).
  • Proof of the house­hold’s total income — ↗ cer­tifi­cate of earn­ings
    (earned income, pen­sion, child benefit).

Respon­si­ble office

🌐 Wohn­geld­stelle (Hous­ing ben­e­fit office)
📍Lamm­straße 7 a, room E 219 — E 223, 76133 Karl­sruhe
☎ 0721 133 6470
📧 wohngeld@la.karlsruhe.de

This page was last updated: 2025-05-26